American Gunner Minutes Before His Death

Image size: 1600 x 1042 pixel. 141 KB
Date: Wednesday, 18 April 1945
Place: Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
Photographer: Robert Capa

Leipzig, 18 April 1945, Private First Class Raymond J. Bowman (right) of “D” Company, 23rd Infantry Regiment and his fellow comrade, Lehmann Riggs, set up their .30 Browning machine gun on an open balcony in order to provide cover for the American troops of the 2nd US Infantry Division, who were advancing over a bridge. This balcony had an unobstructed view on the bridge however this same clear view would turn out to be a deadly mistake for Pfc. Raymond J. Bowman. After taking half of the city, the commanding officer ordered the heavy weapons squad to climb to the third floor of the Jahnallee apartment building (nr. 61). Together with them was famed war photographer Robert Capa. Capa, who was standing just a few feet away from Raymond Bowman when all of this occurred, would later have these photographs published in the May 14, 1945 issue of Life magazine, under the headline “Americans Still Died.” However the identity of the men in the picture was a mystery. It was only after Lehmann Riggs himself shared his memories of that day and the family of Raymond J. Bowman, who identified him by the pin bearing his initials on his collar, that the mystery was solved and later revealed. “We had to go across these bridges to get to the other side of the city. They had blocked the bridges with burned-out tanks and streetcars, anything that would obstruct us from going across. There was a park in front of this building, and they were dug in and we couldn’t see them. We had orders to go up to the third floor of this apartment building and set up our guns to spray that area out there in the park to try to keep them pinned down until our troops could cross that bridge.“, said Lehmann Riggs. Adding “We only fired with one person at a time, and we alternated…one person being exposed all the time. I had just been firing the gun, and I just stepped back off the gun and he had taken over. In 30 seconds, I happened to look up and see the bullet pierce his nose. The bullet that hit him killed him, ricocheted around the room, and it’s a miracle that it didn’t hit me. As soon as he got hit, somebody had to take the gun. I had to jump over him and start firing the gun.” Raymond J. Bowman was born in Rochester, New York on April 2, 1924, the fifth of seven children. After graduating high school, Bowman was drafted into the United States Army on June 21, 1943. While serving in Company D of the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division. In January 1944, he was sent overseas to the United Kingdom in preparation for Operation Overlord. Raymond J. Bowman served in France, where he was wounded in action on August 3, 1944. He went on to fight during the Battle of the Bulge and the final battles in Germany. He was decorated with a Bronze Star Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal and two Purple Hearts. Robert Capa recalled in an interview in 1947: “So it made no sense whatsoever but he (Bowman) looked so clean cut, like it was the first day of the war and he was very earnest. So I said ‘All right, this will be my last picture of the war.’ And I put my camera up and took a portrait shot of him, and while I shot my portrait of him he was killed by a sniper. It was a very clean and somehow a very beautiful death.“ In 2015, the city of Leipzig voted to name the street in which the apartment building is located to “Bowmanstraße”, in honor of Raymond J. Bowman. The renaming took place on April 17, 2016. The apartment building (called Capa House) now contains a small memorial with Capa’s photographs and information about Bowman.

Minutes prior to his death, Raymond J. Bowman (seen left now) with his fellow comrade Lehmann Riggs (on the right). 

Pfc. Raymond J. Bowman after he was struck by the German sniper

 Pfc. Raymond J. Bowman after he was struck by the German sniper. Another soldier of his squad takes over the machine gun

Source :
https://www.argunners.com/raymond-j-bowman-story-behind-dramatic-photo/
http://www.panzernet.com/foro4/showthread.php?11073-Uniformes-mezclados/page4

PFC John T. Fields Checks Ammunition on P-51B Mustang of 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group

Image size: 1600 x 1086 pixel. 465 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Original caption: "An armorer of the 15th U.S. Air Force checks ammunition belts of the .50 caliber machine guns in the wings of a P-51 Mustang fighter plane before it leaves an Italian base for a mission against German military targets. The 15th Air Force was organized for long range assault missions and its fighters and bombers range over enemy targets in occupied and satellite nations, as well as Germany itself." This picture shows Private First Class John T. Fields, aircraft armorer of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, checks the magazine feeds of the Browning .50 caliber machine guns on a North American P-51B Mustang. Note the angled guns for optimum armament entry! During the period this photo was taken, the 332nd was engaged in frequent ground strafing of Axis airfields in Hungary, Austria and Italy. Behind Fields is the P-51B Mustang "Stinky II." Before each flight, the plane's armorer would seal the machine guns with tape to prevent moisture from forming ice in the guns at high altitude, which would cause them to jam. Since most of the 332nd's fighters were hand-me-downs from other groups, they were often war-weary aircraft and had frequent malfunctions. The P-51B had four machine guns; the later D-model had six. The 332nd Fighter Group was composed of Afro-American pilots and ground support personnel trained at Tuskegee, Alabama (USA), and the members of the group became collectively known as the "Tuskegee Airmen".

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-MO-18H-32984 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0019

B-17 Flying Fortress "Invasion 2nd" of 91st Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Squadron

Image size: 1600 x 1299 pixel. 489 KB
Date: Wednesday, 17 March 1943
Place: Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England
Photographer: Unknown

Boeing B-17F-30-BO Flying Fortress "Invasion 2nd" (42-5070) of the 8th Air Force, 91st Bombardment Group, 401st Bombardment Squadron, at the training session held in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England, 17 March 1943. In the waist gunner positions are Staff Sergeant Eldon R. Lapp of Fort Wayne, Indiana (May 17, 1920-October 2, 2001) and Staff Sergeant William D. King (January 18, 1923-August 30, 1952) of Imperial, Texas operating the Browning .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns for a Signal Corps photographer. It's likely this photo was made as part of Major William Wyler's efforts to document B-17 operations; when "Invasion 2nd" Was shot down, he focused on "Memphis Belle" which became very famous in "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress" a 1943 documentary. Note the still prop in the right window; "Invasion 2nd" was on the ground in Bassingbourn, England at the time of the photo. Master Sergeant Jack Gaffney, a member of the crew, painted the nose art on "Invasion 2nd" and several other aircraft. The waist gunners in B-17Fs could collide with each other during combat, disrupting their oxygen supply. This was corrected with staggered waist gun positions on the B-17G. On April 17, 1943, "Invasion 2nd" was shot down near Oldenburg, Germany, on a bombing run on the Focke-Wulf factory in Bremen. "Invasion 2nd" formed the lead plane of the first element of six aircraft making up the lowest squadron. Taking flak hits and attacks by German fighters over the target, the number two engine was completely shot away. The left wing caught on fire and spread to the fuselage. Captain Oscar D. O'Neill called for the crew to bail out but Lapp and King were prevented from leaving by a stuck escape hatch. The ball turret gunner, Technical Sergeant Benedict B. Borostowski, came up into the fuselage from the ball turret and went to the partly open waist door. He found Lapp and King unable to force the door and used his foot to push both of them through. All of the crew members were able to leave the aircraft and survived the jump. Lapp and King were taken to Stalag Luft XVII-B. King was liberated on May 17, 1945; Lapp was liberated on May 19. The other crew members were back in Allied hands by July 3. "Invasion 2nd"'s wreckage was reprocessed by the Germans into raw steel. The 401st Bomb Squadron lost six of nine planes over Bremen on April 17, 1943. King was killed on August 30, 1952 in a Boeing B-29A Superfortress of the 344th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Wing, that crashed four mile north of Taegu, South Korea. All twelve crew members were killed.

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) NRE-338-FTL(EF)-2700(5)

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0002

Sergeant William Watts Manning B-24D Liberator Tunnel Machine Gun

Image size: 1600 x 1281 pixel. 364 KB

Date: Sunday, 1 November 1942

Place: Unknown

Photographer: Unknown

United States Army Air Force gunner Sgt. William Watts of Alexandria, Louisiana, demonstrates the tunnel-mounted Browning .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun of the Consolidated B-24D/LB-30 Liberator. This photo appeared in the LB-30 Erection and Maintenance Instruction manual (TO 01-5ED-2) in 1942. This could have been a staged photo by Consolidated. It is not clear if he is engaged in combat, as he is not wearing an oxygen mask and the machine gun is not exhibiting recoil (note spent .50 caliber casings caught in the gunner's window), but some sources said that this pic was taken in the first all-American air attack in Europe, 17 August 1942. The waist gunner is visible behind him. Originally introduced in the B-24C model, which did not see combat, the tunnel gun had a limited field of fire and was difficult to operate in combat. As result 287 B-24Ds were equipped with Bendix power turrets that could be retracted into the aircraft for takeoff and landings. The Bendix turret induced nausea and disorientation in the ball turret gunners, and soon the turret was deleted and replaced with the tunnel gun again. It was not until the successful Sperry turret was installed (like the one used on the B-17E/F, only it could be retracted into the fuselage) that the B-24 had a workable belly gun defense. Eventually a nose turret like the tail turret was also added, bringing the total number of .50 caliber machine guns to over thirteen. The B-24 never upgraded its engines, resulting in diminished performance since the extra turrets added significant weight. The first B-24D combat mission was on October 9, 1942 by the 93rd Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force against locomotive manufacturing in Lille, France. Out of twenty-four aircraft, one was shot down.

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) NLR-PHOCO-A-65639(31)
http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0005